Cowboy Up by Harper Sloan

As the eldest Davis, Clayton has always tried to lead by example. He takes his job as head of the family businesses seriously, making sure the farm and auto shop are running smoothly—along with keeping an eye on his brother and sister. For him, there's a time and place to let go of the control he holds with an iron grip. And with the way he grew up, coupled with disastrous end to his last relationship, he's just fine with his quiet, solitary life.

Most of the time.

What he hadn't counted on was cute, quirky, shy bookstore owner, Caroline Michaels. She's the proverbial woman next door—well, the next town over, that is. Caroline hasn't lived an easy life, but after escaping an abusive ex, she's finally living it for herself. The last thing she ever expected was a one-night stand with Clay Davis, a night she can't stop thinking about.

So when she falls on hard times and Clay comes out of nowhere to her rescue, she realizes just how impossible it'll be to stay away from him. Now all she has to do is convince him to live a little...

Will Clay be able to give up the reins and finally settle down? And, more importantly, will Caroline muster enough courage to lasso him up?

It takes a bit of an adjustment to get back into cowboy land with Harper Sloan.

Throw in the soap-opera angle (because it really is) with many overreactions, over-the-top responses, lengthy declarations of emotions and there’s always something loud, hysterical and irrepressible about this series where characters don’t do anything softly. They laugh, weep, shout and wave their arms with exaggeration in a place where cowboys swagger hard, women’s panties get wet like dripping taps and hard verbal shots are slung without abandon. ‘Cowboy Up’ is for want of a better word, an impetuous read that rides on the wild side, and it’s akin to getting blown through an oncoming hurricane of torrential high drama.

And the story started that way—all in, with no room for regrets that briefly pushed their way to the surface, from a scorching one-night stand that dovetailed really quickly into a declaration from Clayton Davis that Caroline was the woman he’d always wanted in his life, though it’s probably swoony enough for readers who want to read about a male protagonist who found himself balls-deep (and not just literally) and wholly devoted to the woman from the start.

This was the unbelievable stretch for me, since I found it bewildering that Clayton extrapolated that bright future for him and Caroline all after a one-nighter where a connection had apparently been forged soul-deep. Yet all I could see was a relationship that felt at first, more like dependence on Caroline’s part rather than one of equals—with Clayton acting almost as a crutch while she got her feet up and about again. To be fair, Caroline’s skittish and somewhat needy behaviour has stemmed from losing everything and being in several abused relationships in a manner that Clayton could only step in as the alpha protector role which was easy for him to do so.

‘Cowboy Up’ rides high on emotion, albeit too much for me perhaps, because too much of it felt overplayed and I really thought I would have enjoyed this more. As always, there isn’t any reason why this wouldn’t work for others even if it couldn’t resonate with me. But with my ears feeling as though they’re still ringing and my head still woozy at the speed with which things went down, I was nonetheless, sort of relieved when the sun finally set on their HEA.